


Hidden In Plain Sight

by hgleiser



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Napping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26020798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hgleiser/pseuds/hgleiser
Summary: Having found Sebastian attempting to nap his problems away after Austria 2020, Jenson comes to terms with how much defending him on television gives away his true feelings.
Relationships: Jenson Button/Sebastian Vettel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	Hidden In Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Golddisaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golddisaster/gifts).



Of all the things one can pass by on a leisurely bike ride around the Austrian countryside—cows, quaint villages, the occasional herd of deer—a racing driver having a bit of an existential crisis in a field is the last thing Jenson expects to see.

“Seb?! Is that you?”

“Who wants to know?” Sebastian, his Ferrari cap positioned over his face to block out the afternoon sunlight, grumbles from the other side of the fence. “I was about to have a nap. It’s a public park.”

“Just me. Don’t worry, I haven’t come to force you back on media duties.”

“What’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Getting off his bicycle and taking off his helmet, Jenson leans against the fence and tries to not laugh. _Couldn’t sulk in a hotel room like a normal person, could he?_ “The custom water bottle and ever present lucky bracelet are a dead giveaway, for the record. Anyone else wandering by would know their hero’s lying around in public and wouldn’t give you a moment’s peace.”

“You’re not giving me any peace either. Like I said, I was planning to take a nap. It helps me think.”

“About ways to justify telling Mattia exactly what you think of him these days?”

“Highly unprofessional. I promised I would try to finish out my time well and I’m holding myself to it. Besides, don’t I get enough hate?”

“We both know you can’t let it mess with your head. From the public or the press...including my own colleagues. It’s all talk. That’s it.”

“Speaking of what you said last week, you don’t have to go around defending me on television.” Sebastian sighs. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been labeled a has-been by the public. I can take it.”

“The point is you shouldn’t have to. It’s not you, it’s that bloody stupid car and a team who doesn’t realize what they’re throwing away.” There’s an edge to Jenson’s voice, one Sebastian isn’t used to hearing. “You deserve better.”

“I take it this is all off the record? Wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Only because you’re who needs to hear it, not the whole world.”

Sebastian feels an all-too-familiar fluttering in the pit of his stomach and thinks of pulling him in for a kiss out of sheer gratitude but laces his fingers together and places his hands between his knees, trying to control himself. “Thanks.”

“Listen, I...I know you haven’t made up your mind yet about your future but whatever you want to do I’d really like to be a part of it. If you want to try other series I’ve got friends who would be thrilled to have someone with your level of skill. Maybe we could have our own karting team somewhere. That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?”

“Am I not allowed to disappear into the Alps and become a small-scale chicken farmer?”

Jenson fixes him with a piercing gaze. “We both know you’re not the least bit interested in giving up entirely. No racing driver in history has ever said ‘Well, gardening seems like an action-packed hobby, I’ll do that for the rest of my life’.”

“Don’t look so smug.” Sebastian rolls his eyes with a slight smile. “I know you’re right but let me dream a little longer.”

“Nope. I’d give you a month before you’d go mad with boredom. There’s only so many types of bread you can make and pictures you can take of the local cattle while cycling. I’ll get a call and it’ll be you pleading with me to take you off-roading in the middle of the desert so you can feel like your head’s screwed on straight again.”

The thought of bouncing through sand dunes in the middle of nowhere in a truck fitted with shocks the size of his arm makes Sebastian’s knees and neck ache. “No way in hell.”

“Aw, come on, it’s so much fun! You get absolutely filthy and no one cares, you camp outside for the most incredible sunsets, and there’s almost no media duty. If you tried it once I think you’d fall in love.”

“Is that before or after we get stranded all night the way you did?”

“That was a spot of rotten luck, that’s all. We made it home in the end and that’s what matters. The point is you need to race as much as racing needs you. It wouldn’t be the same otherwise.”

“Sounds like you want me to stick around just so you’ll have a teammate.”

The combination of the smirk on Sebastian’s face and the wink that follows is more than a little devastating for Jenson and he bites his lip. _God, stop before I say anything else that scares me._ “Perhaps.”

“Is that what you’re asking? It’s all fine to imagine, but I’m not committing to anyone or anything unless they come right out and make me a promise. Not an offer; if I cared about money I could’ve sorted that out before now. I want a promise that whoever I’m with will be honest. I’m not having the rug pulled out from under me again...I’m not sure I could take going through this a second time. If I’m it for you then I want you to say it.”

“You are.” Fingers trembling, he reaches out and touches Sebastian’s arm. “In more ways than one.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Seb, surely you’ve picked up on it over the last ten years.”

“I mean, I do like spending time together but...” _But it’s not as if I ever deluded myself into thinking I had a chance. I’m not an idiot._

“But what?”

“Aren’t I a little boring for you? You spend your days off modeling shoes. I spend mine mending fences and mowing the lawn. Racing is the biggest thing we have in common.”

“Now who’s beating round the bush?”

“If I’ve missed out on something for ten years, I should know what it is before I can tell you what I think about it.”

“Oh, for the love of...” Before he can allow himself to fully come to his senses and thus talk himself out of it, Jenson leans in to plant a quick kiss on Sebastian’s mouth. “There. If you’d noticed how bloody long I’ve wanted to do that to you, you wouldn’t have to hear me say how thick you’re capable of being sometimes.” He sighs as the weight of anticipation eases off his chest. “All the times I pulled you in for a hug. All the times I stared and was sure you’d caught me. The way I used to grab your arm during interviews for an excuse to touch you. You kept on smiling and teasing me so I thought you knew how I felt.”

“Given how my luck’s gone over the past six years, forgive me for not wanting to get my hopes up.” Sebastian unclasps his hands before slowly snaking one arm around Jenson’s shoulders. “My track record and yours are two very different things. You’re the popular one. I’m the figure of controversy.” He raises one eyebrow. “Out of my league, as they say.”

“With all due respect, Seb...”

“Yes?”

“If you’re going to keep talking rubbish about how you’re not good enough for me, then I’m going to have to stop you from talking at all.” Jenson goes in for a longer kiss this time, putting one hand up to the back of Sebastian’s head and smiling when he feels an eager response. “I don’t stand up for anyone I don’t care about and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and watch you leave without a chance to show the world why you’re one of the greats. Be with me and I promise I won’t let you down.”

“Scheisse, if I’d known you could kiss like that I might’ve said something earlier!” Sebastian laughs nervously, joking to hide the dizzying effect of it all. “No wonder I can name at least three drivers who have fantasized about you.”

“No one matters to me but you anymore. It’s been that way for years.”

“Likewise. I didn’t give anyone else my champagne in Miami, remember?”

“You also didn’t tell anyone but me where your stash of chocolate bars was. I felt so honored.”

“I was trying to tell you I had a crush on you then but I wasn’t quite drunk enough for bravery. Right now isn’t me being brave, it’s me wanting to know for sure that there’s still one good thing going for me.” He can’t help blushing. “Looks like it turned out to be you.”

Jenson nuzzles Sebastian’s cheek with a smile. “How’s that for being hidden in plain sight?”

“Speaking of, there’s still the little matter of you completely ruining my plans for a nap.”

“You answered me when I stopped, therefore you were still very much awake and I did nothing of the sort. Don’t start with me when you know you’ll lose.”

“I’m losing sleep, not this argument,” yawns Sebastian. “And unless you intend to stay here and count sheep next to me, kindly leave me to it.”

To his surprise Jenson stretches out next to him then, arms folded behind his head with a lazy smile. “Come here. I won’t bite...you don’t look the type to be into it.”

“You haven’t changed a bit in retirement.”

“Ha! Neither have you and that’s why you won’t. Now get down here, would you?”

Sebastian arranges himself comfortably next to him, his head just above the crook of Jenson’s arm, and closes his eyes. “Shouldn’t sleep alone in public, huh?”

Jenson kisses his forehead before doing the same. “If I have my way, you’ll never sleep alone again.”


End file.
